The Microbial Information System (MICRO-IS) is an ongoing project to enter, retrieve, and analyze microbiological data for epidemiological, diagnostic, taxonomic, ecological, and regulatory uses. The long term goal is to establish a worldwide data network at a series of cooperating centers. A mainframe version of the MICRO-IS is currently used extensively for management and analysis of strain data by the MSS and also by the FDA and EPA their regulatory roles. The latest thrust of this effort is development of a portable version of the MICRO-IS for installation on a wide range of computers including personal computers, minicomputers, and mainframes. This version is now being distributed and accepted on a worldwide basis. This project is now being done as a collaborative effort between the not- for-profit Bergey's Manual Trust, the not-for-profit Bionomics International, and Williams & Wilkins, Publishers, to adapt the programs for scholarly publication of descriptions of all known species of bacteria as both a database and in book form. The programs as such will continue to be freely distributed to the scientific community.